Xavi taken aback by Ultimate Team of the Year place
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
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Former Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernández said it is a "great source of pride" to have been included in UEFA.com's Ultimate Team of the Year and urged fans to pick their 2016 XI.
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Xavi Hernández may have won almost all there is to win for club and country during his distinguished career – but he was still delighted and honoured to find that he had made UEFA.com's Ultimate Team of the Year.
Only Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Carles Puyol and Iker Casillas have racked up more overall appearances in a UEFA.com users' Team of the Year than the 36-year-old midfielder, who made the annual cut five times (2008, 09, 10, 11 and 12).
Immediately on viewing the all-time XI, he noted that he had personally experienced the talents of most of his new 'team-mates' from his many seasons with Barcelona and Spain.
However, it was the less familiar elements which this side would hypothetically contain that particularly attracted Xavi when UEFA.com presented him with the news that he was one of the 'Ultimates'.
With a smile and "Wow! You don't say!" as his first reaction, he added: "We have Casillas, Ramos, Piqué, Puyol and Lahm as defenders; me, Iniesta and Gerrard in midfield; then Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Henry up front.
"This looks a great team and obviously I've played alongside all of them, apart from Lahm, Cristiano and Gerrard. It's been a real pleasure to play with all these guys and of course it would have been just the same to line up alongside the other three.
"For Barça and Spain I had many battles with Cristiano Ronaldo. He is an incredible goalscorer, a great player, a true champion who has really been writing new pages in history," continued the veteran, now with al-Sadd in Qatar.
"Steven Gerrard, too, was a wonderful player, one of the best midfielders in the world in recent years who made history with Liverpool.
"Then we have one of my absolute favourites – Philipp Lahm, who always performs excellently. He's both a great defender and a great wing-back; he knows how to win the ball back, cross for his strikers and score himself.
"Philipp can play at right-back, as an organising midfielder, as a winger. So it is a great source of pride for me to be named in UEFA.com's Ultimate Team of the Year. Thank you very much, everyone!"
And his advice? "Vote for the Team of the Year on UEFA.com!"